"Adele Astaire Adele, Lady Charles Cavendish (born Adele Marie Austerlitz; September 10, 1896 – January 25, 1981), was an American dancer, stage actress and singer. She was Fred Astaire's elder sister, and his partner in a 27-year career in vaudeville and theater, beginning when he was five and she was eight. Adele Marie Austerlitz was born on September 10, 1896, in Omaha, Nebraska. Her parents were Johanna ""Ann"" Geilus, an American-born Lutheran of German descent, and Frederic ""Fritz"" Austerlitz, an Austrian-born Roman Catholic of Jewish descent. Adele's younger brother, Fred, was born two years after her. When Adele was eight"
"years of vaudeville's heyday, these headliners included: Other performers appearing at the Palace included Sarah Bernhardt, Al Jolson, Enrico Caruso, Helen Kane, Eddie Cantor, Frank Fay, Bob Hope, Sophie Tucker, George Jessel, Mae West, Vernon and Irene Castle, Gus Edwards, Eddie Leonard, Burns and Allen, Fred Astaire, Benny Fields, Kate Smith, Bill Robinson, Ethel Merman, Bing Crosby, Three X Sisters, Wheeler and Woolsey, Rudolph Valentino, and Jack Benny. With the Great Depression came a rise in the popularity of film and radio, and vaudeville saw a steep decline. The transformation of all of Keith–Albee–Orpheum's vaudeville houses into movie houses through"
"the Midwest, Western and some Southern cities in the United States. Soon Adele grew to at least three inches taller than Fred and the pair began to look incongruous. The family decided to take a two-year break from show business to let time take its course and to avoid trouble from the Gerry Society and the child labor laws of the time. In 1912, Fred became an Episcopalian. The career of the Astaire siblings resumed with mixed fortunes, though with increasing skill and polish, as they began to incorporate tap dancing into their routines. Astaire's dancing was inspired by Bill"
"Scenic design by Frank E. Gates, and Edward A. Morange. Costume design by Wanamaker, Paul Poiret, and George Barber. It ran for 63 performances, closing on January 20, 1923. The cast was headlined by Fred Astaire (Gerald Lane), Adele Astaire (Judy Jordan), and Philip Tonge (Lord Kinlock). The Astaire siblings played the romantic couple. Gerald Bordman reports that ""Broadway’s critics were not bowled over. Although many headlines implied reviews would be raves, notices themselves were filled with qualifications. Most of the enthusiasm was reserved for the Astaires. When it came to Kern's score, the critics were generally unhappy"". Judy Jordan"
"film ""Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"". Other films in which the twins appeared include ""Up Jumped a Swagman"" (1965) with Frank Ifield, and ""Funny Bones"" (1995) with Lee Evans and Jerry Lewis. Their numerous television appearances included ""Barrymore"" and ""The Story of Light Entertainment"" (2006) with Stephen Fry and Simon Cowell. When Frank's wife, Estelle, died in 1984, Fred’s wife continued to appear with the twins, the act being known as ""The Cox Twins and Pauline"". They were presented with Lifetime Achievement Rose Bowls by the British Music Hall Society. By 2007, their public appearances were limited to RAF reunions. Frank"
"last film/TV performance was as a comedian on ""The Ed Wynn Show"" in 1950. Fred Sanborn Fred Sanborn (November 23, 1899March 9, 1961) was an American vaudeville performer, actor, and musician. He was most notable as a member of Ted Healy's comedy troupe ""Ted Healy and his Southern Gentlemen"" (a group which included the trio that became the famous Three Stooges). Sanborn was frequently featured in the group's early vaudeville acts, as well as their 1929 Broadway show, ""A Night in Venice"" (the first of Sanborn's three Broadway musicals/revues). However, after starring with Healy, Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Shemp"
"Wagon"" (1931), winning popular acclaim with the theater crowd on both sides of the Atlantic. By then, Astaire's tap dancing was recognized as among the best, as Robert Benchley wrote in 1930, ""I don't think that I will plunge the nation into war by stating that Fred is the greatest tap-dancer in the world."" After the close of ""Funny Face"", the Astaires went to Hollywood for a screen test (now lost) at Paramount Pictures, but Paramount deemed them unsuitable for films. They split in 1932 when Adele married her first husband, Lord Charles Cavendish, second son of the 9th Duke"
"of one of the two motion pictures made from this show. (The other was ""The Band Wagon."") This was the first New York production to use the double revolving stage for the songs and sketches. Although it had incomparable dancing by Fred and Adele Astaire, it was the last time the brother and sister team appeared together. In 2011, Lost Musicals, aka The Lost Musicals Charitable Trust, presented the UK premier of ""The Band Wagon"". Ian Marshall Fisher, director, Jason Carr, Music Director. A parody of the set pieces of the typical show, involved moonlight serenade, the waltz number, and"
"popular success immediately. Their reputation grew rapidly, and Harold and Fayard became established superstars at Twentieth Century Fox with their astounding dance numbers in the studio's musicals features. The brothers began appearing in musical films with Eubie Blake. They performed in vaudeville, on Broadway, in nightclubs, on television, and in movie musicals. Harold appeared in more than 50 feature films, including ""The Big Broadcast"" (1936), ""Down Argentine Way"" (1940), ""Tin Pan Alley"" (1940), and ""Sun Valley Serenade"" (1941), which features the show-stopping ""Chattanooga Choo Choo"" tap dance number performed by Harold, Fayard, and Dorothy Dandridge. Fred Astaire told the brothers"
"turned back to mostly light, escapist song-and-dance entertainment. Audiences on both sides of the Atlantic had little money to spend on entertainment, and only a few stage shows anywhere exceeded a run of 500 performances during the decade. The revue ""The Band Wagon"" (1931) starred dancing partners Fred Astaire and his sister Adele, while Porter's ""Anything Goes"" (1934) confirmed Ethel Merman's position as the First Lady of musical theatre, a title she maintained for many years. Coward and Novello continued to deliver old fashioned, sentimental musicals, such as ""The Dancing Years"", while Rodgers and Hart returned from Hollywood to create"
"Lon Chaney Jr., the Delta Rhythm Boys, Andy Devine, Marlene Dietrich, W. C. Fields, Susanna Foster, Thomas Gomez, Louis Jordan and His Orchestra, Ted Lewis and His Band, Jeanette MacDonald, Maria Montez, Clarence Muse, Donald O'Connor, Slapsie Maxie Rosenbloom, Artur Rubinstein, Peggy Ryan, Randolph Scott, Dinah Shore, Freddie Slack and His Orchestra, Gale Sondergaard, Sophie Tucker, Orson Welles, among many others. Tony West performs on vaudeville in a group with his father, Nick and sister Kitty, The decline of vaudeville forces the group to split up and Tony goes to Hollywood to try to make it in movies. He works"
"Aunt and the Sluggard"", a Jeeves and Bertie Wooster story. Fred Stone Fred Andrew Stone (August 19, 1873 – March 6, 1959) was an American actor. Stone began his career as a performer in circuses and minstrel shows, went on to act on vaudeville, and became a star on Broadway and in feature films, which earned him a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He was particularly famous for appearing on stage opposite David C. Montgomery. They had a 22-year partnership until Montgomery's death in 1917. They performed in shows such as ""The Wizard of Oz"" premiering in 1902,"
"who could ask audiences to pay higher amounts for less impressive live talent?"" The Great Depression affected theatre audiences on both sides of the Atlantic, as people had little money to spend on entertainment. Only a few stage shows exceeded a run on Broadway or in London of 500 performances during the decade. Many shows continued the lighthearted song-and-dance style of their 1920s predecessors. The revue ""The Band Wagon"" (1931) starred dancing partners Fred Astaire and his sister Adele, while Cole Porter's ""Anything Goes"" (1934) confirmed Ethel Merman's position as the First Lady of musical theatre, a title she maintained"
"job, the family moved to New York City in 1905 to launch the show business career of the children who began training at the Alviene Master School of the Theatre and Academy of Cultural Arts. Despite Adele and Fred's teasing rivalry, they quickly acknowledged their individual strengths, his durability and her greater talent. Fred and Adele's mother suggested they change their name to ""Astaire,"" as she felt ""Austerlitz"" sounded reminiscent of the name of a battle. Family legend attributes the name to an uncle surnamed ""L'Astaire."" They were taught dance, speaking, and singing in preparation for developing an act. Their"
"about all the details of their day-to-day work. While Fred might come to a venue two hours early to finish preparing for their show, Adele was more likely to arrive only a handful of minutes before she was due onstage. After 1917, they developed it into a celebrated adult career on Broadway and, beginning in 1923, on the London stage. Peter Pan creator J. M. Barrie asked Astaire to play his creation; contractual reasons forced her to turn down the part. Astaire became an Episcopalian, like her younger brother. Back in New York the duo appeared in Jerome Kern's ""The"
"the success of the show. The revue featured 25 sketches, skits, songs and dance routines, with choreographic assistance by Fred Astaire who was working in London's Shaftesbury Theatre with his sister Adele at the time. Astaire taught Coward tap-dancing at the nearby Guildhall School of Music. West End's leading lady Gertrude Lawrence made her singing debut with Coward's musical works, an association that would continue throughout their careers. Lawrence had previously worked with him on the Liverpool production of Gerhart Hauptmann's play ""Hannele"" in 1913. The revue sketches made light of London society at the time, with one sketch called"
"were scheduled to run for six weeks, but closed in three weeks. Both mother and daughter appeared in the casts. Adele Blood Adele Mary Blood (April 23, 1886 – September 13, 1936) was an American actress in silent movies, vaudeville, and theater. She was born on April 23, 1886, in San Francisco, California, to Ira E. Blood and Frances Emma Stewart. Frances was a member of the Alameda school department for many years. Adele moved to the eastern United States some years before 1917. As a youth, she was a talented equestrienne, had an interest in fashion, and admired the"
"in Blythe, California, near his home in Quartzsite, Arizona, from congestive heart failure Fred Church (actor) Fred Rosewell Church (October 17, 1889 – January 7, 1983) was an American actor of the silent era. After entering vaudeville when he was a boy, Church became part of a double act that spent two years on the circuit. After touring the U.S. in vaudeville, he acted in repertory theater in the central western U.S., including the Selig Company in Chicago. In 1908, Church joined Gilbert M. 'Broncho Billy' Anderson in Western films for the latter's Essanay Studios. He appeared in over 200"
"Fred Astaire Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, singer, actor, choreographer and television presenter. He is widely regarded as the most influential dancer in the history of film. His stage and subsequent film and television careers spanned a total of 76 years, during which he starred in more than 10 Broadway and London musicals, made 31 musical films, 4 television specials, and issued numerous recordings. As a dancer, he is best remembered for his uncanny sense of rhythm, his perfectionism, his innovation, and as the dancing partner and on-screen romantic"
"the ""Funny Face"" musical number, which takes place in a darkroom). Barbra Streisand performed several lines of this song in her ""Medley"" on her studio album ""Color Me Barbra"" (1966). Funny Face (1927 song) ""Funny Face"" is a 1927 song composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin. It was the title song of ""Funny Face"", where it was introduced by Fred Astaire, and his sister, Adele. In the 1957 cinematic version of ""Funny Face"", Fred Astaire's character was loosely based on the career of Richard Avedon, who provided a number of the photographs seen in the film, including"
"of Devonshire. Fred went on to achieve success on his own on Broadway and in London with ""Gay Divorce"" (later made into the film ""The Gay Divorcee""), while considering offers from Hollywood. The end of the partnership was traumatic for Astaire but stimulated him to expand his range. Free of the brother-sister constraints of the former pairing and working with new partner Claire Luce, Fred created a romantic partnered dance to Cole Porter's ""Night and Day,"" which had been written for ""Gay Divorce"". Luce stated that she had to encourage him to take a more romantic approach: ""Come on, Fred,"
"Fred Stone Fred Andrew Stone (August 19, 1873 – March 6, 1959) was an American actor. Stone began his career as a performer in circuses and minstrel shows, went on to act on vaudeville, and became a star on Broadway and in feature films, which earned him a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He was particularly famous for appearing on stage opposite David C. Montgomery. They had a 22-year partnership until Montgomery's death in 1917. They performed in shows such as ""The Wizard of Oz"" premiering in 1902, the Victor Herbert operetta ""The Red Mill"" in 1906, and"
"Lee Patrick (actress) Lee Patrick (November 22, 1901 – November 21, 1982) was an American actress whose career began in 1922 on the New York stage with her role in ""The Bunch and Judy"" which headlined Adele Astaire and featured Adele's brother Fred Astaire. Patrick continued to perform in dozens of roles on the stage for the next decade, frequently in musicals and comedies, but also in dramatic parts like her 1931 performance as Meg in ""Little Women"". She began to branch out into films in 1929. For half a century she created a credible body of cinematic work, her"
"high class Vaudeville variety show. The first ""Follies"" was produced in 1907 at the roof theatre ""Jardin de Paris"". During the Follies era, many of the top entertainers, including W. C. Fields, Eddie Cantor, Josephine Baker, Fanny Brice, Ann Pennington, Bert Williams, Eva Tanguay, Bob Hope, Will Rogers, Ruth Etting, Ray Bolger, Helen Morgan, Louise Brooks, Marilyn Miller, Ed Wynn, Gilda Gray, Nora Bayes and Sophie Tucker appeared in the shows. The Ziegfeld Follies were also famous for their display of many beautiful chorus girls, commonly known as Ziegfeld girls, who ""paraded up and down flights of stairs as anything"
"Fred Sanborn Fred Sanborn (November 23, 1899March 9, 1961) was an American vaudeville performer, actor, and musician. He was most notable as a member of Ted Healy's comedy troupe ""Ted Healy and his Southern Gentlemen"" (a group which included the trio that became the famous Three Stooges). Sanborn was frequently featured in the group's early vaudeville acts, as well as their 1929 Broadway show, ""A Night in Venice"" (the first of Sanborn's three Broadway musicals/revues). However, after starring with Healy, Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Shemp Howard in the Rube Goldberg film ""Soup to Nuts""—for which Sanborn also wrote a"
"""Bojangles"" Robinson and John ""Bubbles"" Sublett. From vaudeville dancer Aurelio Coccia, they learned the tango, waltz, and other ballroom dances popularized by Vernon and Irene Castle. Some sources state that the Astaire siblings appeared in a 1915 film titled ""Fanchon, the Cricket"", starring Mary Pickford, but the Astaires have consistently denied this. By age 14, Fred had taken on the musical responsibilities for their act. He first met George Gershwin, who was working as a song plugger for Jerome H. Remick's music publishing company, in 1916. Fred had already been hunting for new music and dance ideas. Their chance meeting"
"at 2s 6d for the stalls, 1s 6d for the grand circle and 1s for the gallery. The first show ran for three hours and featured a variety of acts. After a rendition of the National Anthem by the Princess Ladies' Orchestra from the Promenade Pier, the show was opened by Leopoldine, described as ""a lady who is very clever on the parallel bars and flying rings and kindred implements"". She was followed in turn by comedian Harry Comlin, Arthur Vining and Nellie Coleman (vocalists) and singer Emmie Ames. Adele and May Lilian, the Levey Sisters, were ""very chic"", and"
"Cherry Sisters The Cherry Sisters – Addie (1864–1942), Effie (1869–1944), Ella (1863–1934), Lizzie (1863–1936), and Jessie Cherry (1872–1903) – were a group of sisters from Marion, Iowa who formed a notorious vaudeville touring act in the late 19th century. They were also the plaintiffs in a landmark 1901 legal case heard by the Iowa Supreme Court, ""Cherry v. Des Moines Leader,"" which was instrumental in establishing and confirming the right of the press to fair comment. The Cherry Sisters' vaudeville act, ""Something Good, Something Sad,"" was infamous for its poor quality and the vehement responses it elicited by audiences, who"
"him the nickname ""Moaning Minnie"" from her, had always been the dominant creative force. In 1937 Astaire began filming in England with Jack Buchanan and Maurice Chevalier but withdrew after two days. She later recalled: ""Oh boy, if my brother Fred sees this—I'm gone"". There is no known film record of Adele performing (aside from a clip lasting a few seconds), but she made eight audio recordings. During World War II, Astaire worked in London at the Red Cross's Rainbow Corner canteen. She wrote letters home for soldiers, writing and posting up to 130 letters in a single week. She"
"ship en route to England. He was the father of the actress, June Duprez. Fred Duprez Fred Duprez (September 6, 1884 – October 27, 1938) was an American actor comedian singer who performed on vaudeville, phonograph record, and film. He made phonograph recordings in the US and the UK in the 1900s, 1910s, and 1920s. Most of the films he appeared in were British. He was also a writer, and wrote the popular stage farce ""My Wife's Family"", filmed three times in Britain, firstly in 1931; once in Sweden in 1932 ; and once in Finland, in 1933. Fred Duprez"
"The Cox Twins Francis Thomas ""Frank"" Cox (4 December 192010 November 2007) and Frederick ""Fred"" Cox (4 December 192028 September 2013), known as The Cox Twins, were British entertainers in the Music Hall tradition. They were identical twin brothers. Their career began with Steffani's Songsters and they then appeared in the Ralph Reader RAF Gang Shows during World War II, touring Europe and North Africa. Later they went into Variety, performing in summer seasons and pantomime. They married twins sisters, Estelle and Pauline Miles, who became part of their act. In 1972 they appeared as Tweedledum and Tweedledee in the"
"after a successful stint with Fred in the revue ""The Band Wagon"" on Broadway, Astaire retired from the stage. On May 9 of that year, Astaire married Lord Charles Cavendish, receiving the courtesy title of ""Lady Charles"". They moved to County Waterford in Ireland, where they lived at Lismore Castle. She had three children: a daughter in 1933 and twin sons in 1935, all of whom died soon after birth. She visited Hollywood and appeared in January 1936 on the Music Variety Show, but she admitted to feeling intimidated by her brother's reputation. During their partnership, Fred, whose perfectionism earned"
"his long and brilliant career'. It was following Cinderella's fourteen-week run that Fred first performed in London, persuaded by fellow cast members, The Eight Lancashire Lads, to travel with them. Upon his arrival, Fred found himself playing the hated first slot on the bills. However, this was to change when he decided to try out a new song, 'The Black Sheep of the Family', at the Hackney Empire in 1907. It was a huge success and was to remain Fred's most popular song. As Fred says in his account of his life ('How success ruined me'), his name was 'made"